Alumni Q&A: Tom Myers ’76

Nearly every sound in a movie, from the rev of an engine to the rumble of thunder to the bleep-bloop of a robot, must be captured or created by the crew’s sound department. Sculpting the sonic world of a film is the job of a sound engineer: they are tasked with recording, editing, and mixing the audio for a movie, including dialogue and sound effects. 

This is what Tom Myers ’76 has been doing during his 35-year career at filmmaker George Lucas’ legendary post-production facility, Skywalker Ranch. He’s credited on blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and Star Wars Episode II — Attack of the Clones; animated classics, such as Cars, Toy Story, and WALL-E; and indie hits, such as Dogma and Sorry to Bother You. He’s been nominated for three Academy Awards, as well as a number of other awards. 

We chatted with Myers from his office at the ranch about how he broke into and found his place in the film industry, why he switched from picture to sound editing, and how sound is a world-building tool in film and television production. 

You’ve worked on a lot of movies! What are some recent projects you feel really proud of?

Tom Myers: Back during the pandemic, I started working with this young independent Brazilian filmmaker, Alex Moratto, on 7 Prisoners, a terrific movie. That was as fun of a creative collaboration as I've had. 

I also recently worked on an indie movie, Mouse, by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson. They have this creative juice; they somehow pull the money together and make these cool independent movies. 

I’ve also worked a few times with the director Boots Riley, and I just did his new film, I Love Boosters. It’s so creatively wild and funny, with a very handcrafted quality. It’s an example of a director with a vision, and everyone on the crew is pulling their oars in that direction. Boots is a terrific guy, really down to earth and generous, and those are the people you want to work around.

How did you get into filmmaking?

Film was always my interest. I moved out to San Francisco for the graduate film program at SF State after doing my undergrad at Northwestern University. But, I only lasted about a semester in grad school—I needed a break. 

After that, I got a job at a film lab, where I worked on and off for five years. Someone I knew through the lab started working at Skywalker Ranch, which was doing its first two movies: Tucker, by Francis Ford Coppola, and Ron Howard’s Willow. They were looking to hire entry-level staff, and that’s how I got my foot in the door.

Did you always aspire to be a sound engineer?

When I went to film school, I didn't think about sound too much—picture editing was what I really loved because you have this control, and hours of work feels like 15 minutes. I thought picturing editing is what I would do.

However, early in my career, I lucked into meeting some important people in post-production sound, and I thought they seemed cool and creative. In editing, the team is usually small—often just one person and an assistant. But a sound crew is a bigger collaborative team, which I liked. There are more types of people from all different backgrounds, and also more kinds of jobs: sound editing, mixing, Foley [practical sound effects]. The long hours, pressure, and deadlines gave me the feeling that we were doing something important. 

When did you realize that you were on the right career path with sound?

In 1990, the visionary director David Lynch was making Wild at Heart, and he was here, mixing in the studio. He was rushing to get the movie into the Cannes Film Festival [where it went on to win the Palme d'Or, the festival's grand prize], and we were working long days, seven days a week. 

At the time, I was operating the machines behind the mix, and I was invited to sit in the back of the room. What I saw was this creative process which was so wild: Lynch was very open to ideas and collaboration, and he was this generous character who was nice to everyone, but had this fire in him. It was a revelation to me. I thought, I want to get closer to the flame of creativity of directors like this.

Do you prefer working on bigger films or indies?

The ones that stick in my mind are the smaller movies where there’s more collaboration with the director. Sometimes, the bigger the movie, the more apparatus there is—it’s like flying a 747 opposed to a biplane. But also, with bigger budget movies, there is enough money and power to explore every idea.

The most fun I ever had was working on Dogma with Kevin Smith. I loved the movie and the filmmakers, and I got to do really creative things. Everything came together: creative control, great people, collaboration, and money, which doesn’t happen all that often. And we laughed all the time! It’s what I thought in college it would be like to make movies with your friends. I ended up making five movies with Kevin after Dogma. 

I love the process of honing and improving things and looking for new ideas.

—Tom Myers '76

From your vantage point, how has the industry changed since you started? How did you pivot and adapt to keep up with that?

Streaming has changed everything. There are still great independent movies being made, but the money is in streaming. Some of the streaming stuff that is successful is more about serving a corporate vision, which is a little less rewarding in some regards. You’re more a cog in the wheel versus directly collaborating around one person’s specific vision. With how much content is being made, there are more creative opportunities, but you have to adapt and be able to do a wider variety of things. When I first started out, there were 15 or 20 people on a sound crew, and now it’s maybe five. Everyone has to do a couple of jobs at once.

As for me, I try to balance the jobs. I’ll work with some young independent filmmakers with two nickels, and then do something else that pays more. But no matter what I’m working on, I love the process of honing and improving things and looking for new ideas. 

How do you think sound design helps to build the world of a film?

Sound is part of creating the rules and language of the universe in a film, especially in animation. It helps to create both dramatic “truth” and literal truth. A detail like a phone ringing can mean a bunch of things in a movie, and every sound should have an intention that works for the vision of the film.

For instance, in the Cars movies, all of the characters are cars, but we decided we couldn’t have the engines running all the time. We had to invent how we articulated each movement, and then make all the sounds abide by those rules. The sound crew spent time at a Nascar rally in Las Vegas recording different car engine sounds for each character.

When you look back at your time at GFS, are there any clues that hinted at your future profession as a film sound engineer?

My senior project was a Super 8 film which, frankly, didn’t work out that well, but it was a really good experience. It was a documentary about some of the schools in Germantown. A lot of the footage was of kids running around playgrounds. I didn’t have the vision or nerve to go farther, but my teachers supported me, especially Pat McPherson, my eleventh-grade English teacher, and Joan Countryman ’58, who taught urban studies and was also my senior project advisor. Both were very encouraging of creativity and off-the-path thinking, and Joan connected me with a local filmmaker who advised me during the project. 

In the end, the process was so important to me, as was coming up with my own plan and advocating for it. 

Looking for more stories about our amazing alumni? Check out Q&As with author and leadership coach Selena Rezvani '95; journalist Jeffrey Stern '03; and opera singer and theatre performer Kristin Renee Young '04.